Arsenal vs Chelsea: Gunners stamp authority, but Blues are contenders too

Arsenal’s strong defence and reliable attack edge Chelsea’s bravery and intent in the Premier League’s biggest clash.

Arsenal faced their first big test of their title defence against Chelsea and walked away with a crucial 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium [Adrian Dennis/AFP]

Arsenal’s pedigree as defending Premier League champions faced its first big test of the season, with the Gunners hosting title aspirants and big spenders Chelsea on the third matchday.

It is not often that games built up with such hype and expectations live up to their billing, but Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Chelsea certainly delivered on Sunday.

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Breathless action , sub-plots galore and a total of 99 minutes and 35 seconds of edge-of-your-seat football drama.

We may only be three rounds into the marathon 38-game Premier League season, but it was the first real test of the credentials for Arsenal and new-look Chelsea after their $473m summer outlay .

Here are five things we learned from the featured clash at the Emirates.

Arsenal’s defence: Injuries? No problem

What do you get when you pit arguably the league’s meanest defence against one of its most exciting new attacks? The scoreline might suggest it was a close game, but in reality, it wasn’t.

Chelsea did muster 13 shots on goal, but eight of those came from outside the box, and they combined for an expected goals statistic of 0.35. The Blues had just 25 touches inside the Arsenal penalty area.

Of the 30 Premier League games played among all 20 teams so far, Arsenal have now recorded three of the four lowest totals of expected goals scored against them.

Arsenal’s defensive prowess was even more impressive in the absence of their first-choice defenders William Saliba and Jurrien Timber, who played at least 30 games each in their team’s title-winning run last season. In their absence, defensive options Cristhian Mosquera, Piero Hincapie and Ezri Konsa have all fared admirably.

As a result, Arsenal have won their opening three league games this season while conceding fewer than two goals for the third time ever.

They will hope the omens follow the 2003-04 season, when they finished as unbeaten champions, rather than the 1924-25 season, when they ultimately ended up in 20th.

Ben White, left, was a standout performer for Arsenal. [Ryan Pierse/Getty Images]

Attacking from the flanks

With young defender Jurrien Timber sidelined following groin surgery, Ben White has filled in at right-back in the opening three games of the campaign. He has also filled Timber’s big attacking boots in addition to keeping things tight at the back.

A whopping 47 percent of Arsenal’s attacks against Chelsea came down the right flank occupied by White and Bukayo Saka.

As busy as Riccardo Calafiori and Christos Tzolis were on the wings, only 28 percent of Arsenal’s attacks came down their left flank, with only 25 percent coming through the middle of the park, occupied by Declan Rice, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Martin Odegaard.

Timber being back in full training and potentially back in action within days is a boost to Mikel Arteta, but White’s form means the Gunners’ manager can afford to take his time in bringing Timber back into the fray.

Havertz and Gyokeres lead the charge

Only David Raya, Gabriel and White have played more minutes for Arsenal across the opening three games than Kai Havertz.

After back-to-back 90 minutes, the German came off with 12 minutes remaining against Chelsea, allowing Viktor Gyokeres his first minutes of action in the league.

The Swede was heavily linked with a move away from the Emirates in the transfer window, but in the end, teammate Gabriel Jesus made the switch to Barcelona instead, and actually made his debut off the bench at Valencia at the exact same time his former team were hosting Chelsea.

Gyokeres understandably looked rusty; a heavy early touch on the left flank allowed Maxence Lacroix the chance to break up an attack, but he warmed to the task and produced a wonderful flick on halfway to launch another counter.

Meanwhile, Havertz had 10 touches in the opposition box in 78 minutes, the first time he’s reached double figures in a Premier League match since January 2025 – a run of 19 appearances. He also picked up his fourth goal against his former club in nine appearances in league and cup, six of which have now ended in Arsenal wins with the other three drawn.

Havertz clearly wants to keep a grip on his starting forward role.

Martin Odegaard scored Arsenal’s second goal. [Tony O Brien/Reuters]

Odegaard’s influence grows

After a stellar World Cup run with Norway, Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard’s renaissance has continued.

The 27-year-old might have lifted the Premier League trophy last May, but his influence on the season as a whole was far less obvious. He started just 24 Premier League games and played a total of 1,371 minutes – sixth among Gunners midfielders.

His goal against Chelsea was, however, his third in four appearances across all competitions this season – this after netting just once in 36 outings last term – and he once again proved the vital cog in Arsenal’s attack in a Player of the Match performance.

Morgan Rogers celebrates scoring with Joao Pedro. [Tony O Brien/Reuters]

Are Chelsea a force to be reckoned with?

Well, it certainly looks like a step in the right direction. On the evidence of the opening three games, a new-look Chelsea look like top-four contenders once again.

The Blues finished nine places and 33 points adrift of Arsenal last season, but had it not been for a flying David Raya save from Estevao’s rasping late shot, they might have snatched a point at the home of the champions in just their third game under Xabi Alonso.

There are problems for the Spaniard to solve as Chelsea have now gone 19 league games without a clean sheet, and despite the attacking threat of Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers, they created an expected goals tally of just 0.35 across 90 minutes.

However, Chelsea fans can be optimistic as they are the first team in Premier League history to score inside the opening five minutes in each of their first three games of the season.

The five-time champions also showed innovation and bravery to nullify the threat of set-piece specialists Arsenal by restricting them to just five corners in total.

The Blues sent four players upfield from their own box before the corner was taken, dragging Arsenal players with them and sending one man out to try and charge down the kick.

在英超联赛最激烈的对决中，阿森纳凭借其稳固的防守和可靠的进攻，胜过切尔西的勇气和决心。

阿森纳在卫冕征程中迎来了与切尔西的首场重大考验，并在酋长球场以 2-1 的比分取得了一场关键的胜利。[Adrian Dennis/AFP]

作为英超卫冕冠军，阿森纳的实力在本赛季迎来了第一个重大考验，枪手将在第三轮比赛中主场迎战争冠球队、大手笔投入的切尔西。

很少有比赛能在如此高的关注度和期望值下达到预期，但阿森纳周日以 2-1 战胜切尔西的比赛无疑做到了这一点。

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梅特兰-奈尔斯爆冷击败曼联，埃弗顿绝杀对手，艰难拿到一分（共四条，此为第二条）。

拉明·亚马尔梅开二度，帮助巴塞罗那在西甲联赛中客场5-0大胜瓦伦西亚（共4场比赛中的第3场）。

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扣人心弦的动作场面，丰富的支线剧情，以及总共 99 分 35 秒令人屏息凝神的足球剧。

虽然英超联赛漫长的 38 轮赛季才进行了三轮，但这对于阿森纳和焕然一新的切尔西来说，是他们在夏季斥资 4.73 亿美元后，实力首次受到真正的考验。

以下是我们从酋长球场这场焦点大战中学到的五件事。

阿森纳防线：伤病？没问题

当联盟中最强悍的防守之一对阵最具潜力的新晋进攻之一时，会发生什么？比分可能显示比赛势均力敌，但实际上并非如此。

切尔西全场共有13次射门，但其中8次来自禁区外，预期进球数仅为0.35。蓝军在阿森纳禁区内仅有25次触球。

在目前为止20支英超球队进行的30场比赛中，阿森纳已经取得了预期失球数最低的四场比赛中的三场。

在主力后卫威廉·萨利巴和尤里安·廷伯缺阵的情况下，阿森纳的防守能力更加令人印象深刻。上赛季，萨利巴和廷伯在球队夺冠征程中均至少出场30次。在他们缺阵的情况下，克里斯蒂安·莫斯克拉、皮耶罗·欣卡皮耶和埃兹里·孔萨等后防球员都表现出色。

因此，阿森纳在本赛季的前三场联赛中全部获胜，并且历史上第三次单场失球数少于两个。

他们希望预兆能像 2003-04 赛季那样，以不败战绩夺得冠军，而不是像 1924-25 赛季那样，最终排名第 20 位。

左图为本·怀特，他是阿森纳队的一名杰出球员。[Ryan Pierse/Getty Images]

从边路进攻

由于年轻后卫尤里安·廷伯因腹股沟手术缺阵，本·怀特在本赛季前三场比赛中顶替他出任右后卫。除了稳固后防线外，他还承担了廷伯在进攻端的重要职责。

阿森纳对阵切尔西的进攻中，高达 47% 的进攻都来自怀特和萨卡占据的右路。

尽管里卡多·卡拉菲奥里和克里斯托斯·佐利斯在边路非常活跃，但阿森纳只有 28% 的进攻来自左路，只有 25% 的进攻来自中场，而中场由德克兰·赖斯、迈尔斯·刘易斯-斯凯利和马丁·厄德高占据。

蒂姆伯恢复全面训练，并有可能在几天内重返赛场，这对米克尔·阿尔特塔来说无疑是个好消息，但怀特的状态意味着枪手主帅可以慢慢来，让蒂姆伯重返赛场。

哈弗茨和吉约克雷斯领衔冲锋

在前三场比赛中，只有大卫·拉亚、加布里埃尔和怀特的出场时间比凯·哈弗茨多。

在连续两场踢满 90 分钟后，这位德国球员在对阵切尔西的比赛还剩 12 分钟时被换下，让维克托·吉约克雷斯在联赛中首次亮相。

在转会窗口期间，这位瑞典球员与离开酋长球场的传闻甚嚣尘上，但最终，他的队友加布里埃尔·热苏斯转会到了巴塞罗那，并且实际上在老东家主场迎战切尔西的同一时间，他在瓦伦西亚替补登场完成了首秀。

吉约克雷斯的状态看起来有些生疏，这是可以理解的；他在左路开场不久的一次重触让马克桑斯·拉克鲁瓦有机会破坏了一次进攻，但他很快就进入了状态，在中场附近用一次精彩的挑传发动了另一次反击。

与此同时，哈弗茨在78分钟内有10次触球进入对方禁区，这是他自2025年1月以来首次在英超联赛中单场触球次数达到两位数——此前他已连续19场比赛做到这一点。此外，他在联赛和杯赛中面对老东家阿森纳的9次出场中攻入了第四球，其中6场阿森纳获胜，其余3场战平。

哈弗茨显然想继续保住他的首发前锋位置。

马丁·厄德高打入阿森纳的第二粒进球。[托尼·奥布莱恩/路透社]

厄德高的影响力日益增强

在挪威队世界杯上表现出色之后，阿森纳队长马丁·厄德高继续着他的复兴之路。

这位27岁的球员或许在去年五月捧起了英超冠军奖杯，但他对整个赛季的影响却远没有那么明显。他只首发了24场英超比赛，总共出场1371分钟——在枪手中场球员中排名第六。

然而，他对阵切尔西的进球是他本赛季各项赛事出场四次以来的第三粒进球——而上赛季他在36场比赛中只打入一球——他再次证明了自己是阿森纳进攻中的关键一环，并荣膺全场最佳球员。

摩根·罗杰斯与若昂·佩德罗庆祝进球。[托尼·奥布莱恩/路透社]

切尔西是一支不容小觑的队伍吗？

嗯，这看起来无疑是朝着正确方向迈出的一步。从前三场比赛的表现来看，焕然一新的切尔西似乎再次成为了前四名的有力竞争者。

上赛季，蓝军落后阿森纳9个名次和33分，但如果不是大卫·拉亚飞身扑出了埃斯特旺最后时刻的劲射，他们本可以在哈维·阿隆索执教的第三场比赛中，在冠军的主场拿到一分。

西班牙人需要解决一些问题，因为切尔西已经连续 19 场联赛未能零封对手，尽管若昂·佩德罗、科尔·帕尔默和摩根·罗杰斯等进攻球员极具威胁，但他们在 90 分钟内创造的预期进球数仅为 0.35。

不过，切尔西球迷可以保持乐观，因为他们是英超历史上第一支在赛季前三场比赛中均在开场五分钟内取得进球的球队。

五届冠军得主还展现了创新和勇气，通过限制阿森纳总共只有 5 个角球，从而抵消了定位球专家阿森纳的威胁。

在角球开出之前，蓝军从本方禁区派出四名球员前插，带动阿森纳球员一起推进，并派出一名球员试图封堵角球。